WHAT'S AHEAD IN 2014: Taunton to hire more police officers

Heading into 2014, Taunton will be dealing with several issues crucial to life in the community, but the city is in the best financial position it’s been in for years, according to Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. “For first time in several years we are in the black," Hoye said. "I think we are certainly in a be...

Heading into 2014, Taunton will be dealing with several issues crucial to life in the community, but the city is in the best financial position it’s been in for years, according to Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr.

“For first time in several years we are in the black," Hoye said. "I think we are certainly in a better position than we were a year ago. … We are closer to meeting spending obligations.”

Hoye said one of his prerogatives is hiring more police officers to help deal with the drug problem in the community. Hoye said he is working to hire a total of four new police officers, including two who were recently appointed.

“I think it’s a vital need that we have,” Hoye said. “We definitely need an increased police presence. We can’t pretend we don’t have a drug problem here in the city. … The only way to combat that is with additional police resources.”

Taunton also has a looming trash-related issue to contend with. The City Council is expected to decide on whether to request permission for yet another extension on the city landfill’s maximum capacity, by asking the state to allow somewhere between 20 to 40 more feet of waste to pile up at the East Britannia Street site.

Taunton is still entwined in a three-party contract with waste management companies, as the city government decides which route it will go, either a transfer station or a gasification plant.

City Councilor David Pottier said that raising the limit set on the landfill will give Taunton three or four more years before implementing a new system. Pottier said that negotiations continue with the companies WeCare and Interstate Waste Technologies (IWT), but that if the extension isn’t granted by the state the Taunton landfill must close in a year.

“The whole thing is going to come to a head in January,” Pottier said.

Pottier said that based on information from Waste Management, which operates the Taunton landfill, the city would get $8 to $10 million in both revenue and cost avoidance if the increase on the dump’s limit is granted. If it’s not granted, Pottier said, the city needs to be ready for a new transfer station or other alterative for 2015.

Also in 2014, Hoye’s administration and the City Council are also looking at the future of several city-owned properties, namely the historic City Hall on Summer Street, which has been shuttered since August 2010.

Hoye said he hopes that the city government can move out of the temporary City Hall at the former Maxham School on Oak Street.

“We have to continue to take a serious look at City Hall,” Hoye said. “In the upcoming, year we have to get that project in gear. … I think the city hall needs to be downtown. It’s economic center of our city. This (Maxham School) building has certainly served us well on a temporary basis. But City Hall needs to be back downtown.”

Page 2 of 2 - The City Hall effort has been stalled for months, without securing funding for construction. But Hoye said that the Star Theater, a dilapidated building right next to City Hall that the city only recently took possession of, has been a factor slowing down progress.

“The taking of the Star Theater and its razing enhances our ability to move forward with the City Hall project,” said Hoye. “I’m not sure (if they project will begin) this year or the following, but it will have to be done in very near future.”

Pottier said the city also needs to figure out what to do with the old Barnum School, which is currently vacant. Pottier said the city is hoping to get more than $75,000, which is the amount that was bid out for the old Walker School, which he said was in worse condition.

Another issue the city may have to handle in 2014 is medical marijuana, which was legalized by state law enacted a year ago, but with regulations that are still being implemented.

Taunton city government previously approved an ordinance restricting such an operation to an area zoned for industrial use. City officials have said they’ve heard that Mozzone Boulevard off of County Street/Route 140 and a portion of South Crane Avenue, which borders Myles Standish Industrial Park, are two locations that are being eyed by potential suitors.

The state said there are three applicants interested in Taunton as a location to build medical marijuana dispensaries. According to the DPH, the applicants are the Greeneway Wellness Foundation, Baystate Wellness Center and Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts Inc. The president of the latter, lobbyist William Delahunt, is a former congressman and district attorney.

The DPH anticipates that it will announce provisional medical marijuana dispensary licenses in early 2014, and that the list of recipients will be made public.